


The key to your heart (is food)

by Gilrael



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Ennoshita is a writer, Getting Together, M/M, Yuuji sells vegetables for a living
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25770415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gilrael/pseuds/Gilrael
Summary: "Can I help you with something?""This is not my flat, is it?"~~~Shortly after moving to a new flat, Terushima has a little much to drink and accidentally tries to unlock his neighbour's door in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, his neighbour is Ennoshita, who is a freelance writer and also very hot.
Relationships: Ennoshita Chikara/Terushima Yuuji
Comments: 8
Kudos: 64





	The key to your heart (is food)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Peskychloe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peskychloe/gifts).



> Hope you enjoy the EnnoTeru silliness, Chloe :D   
> (Also everyone should check out her [webcomic](https://tapas.io/series/Incomplete_spinal/info), it's very good :3)

“Are you sure you'll be alright getting home on your own?” Tsucchi asked, raising his eyebrows as Yuuji almost fell face-first onto the pavement on his way out of the bar.

“I'll be fine,” Yuuji assured his friend as he breathed in the fresh night air. “I'm not that drunk.”

Tsucchi rolled his eyes.

“Says the guy who trips over nothing.”

“I'm walking just fine now, aren't I?”

“Let me at least accompany you to the train station.”

“Fine...”

A brisk wind dragged on their hair and clothes as they made their way to the station. It felt nice on Yuuji's heated face. He was tempted to just close his eyes and enjoy the feeling, but he instantly regretted closing his eyes for too long when the soles of his shoes caught on a bit of uneven pavement.

Tsucchi laughed.

“Watch where you're going, please.”

Technically, Yuuji's new flat was only a fifteen-minute trip away from the town centre. But after one too many drinks, Yuuji felt like the train ride took forever. It was a miracle that he didn't nod off before he arrived at his station. By the time he arrived home, it was way past midnight. He dragged himself up the stairs to the second floor and got out his key. It took two attempts for him to even manage to get it inside the lock, and then, for some cursed reason, it seemed to be stuck. No matter how much force he used, it wouldn't turn. Did he maybe accidentally take the key to his parents' house with him when he left earlier that evening? But this one had the right key chain attached to it, so that couldn't be the problem either.

And then suddenly, there were noises from the other side of the door, and the door magically opened to reveal a face that would probably have been very pretty if it weren't for the surly expression.

“How did a hottie like you end up here?” Yuuji blurted out, unable to keep his mouth shut in the face of such beauty.

“Can I help you with something?” the pretty young man asked curtly, completely ignoring Yuuji's comment.

“Err... This is not my flat, is it?” Yuuji asked as he looked at the number above the doorbell. 202. He lived in 203.

“It is not,” Yuuji's neighbour confirmed, raising an eyebrow.

“Sorry, my bad, I only moved in next door a couple of days ago, and I went out drinking and seem to have mistaken your door for mine...” Yuuji gasped. “I haven't introduced myself! I'm Terushima Yuuji, and I promise that I usually don't go around trying to break into my neighbour's flats.”

His neighbour huffed, and it could've been a sound of exasperation or amusement, Yuuji couldn't tell.

“Ennoshita Chikara. Nice to meet you.” Ennoshita-san's voice was dripping with sarcasm. “I'll get back to my work then if you'll excuse me...”

“Sorry again!” Yuuji said, maybe a little too loudly considering the time of day as the door was shut right in front of his face. He couldn't believe that he had somehow managed to leave the worst first impression with his hot new neighbour.

***

Waking up, Yuuji was immediately haunted by two things – a massive hangover and the dreadful memory of how he met his new neighbour last night. Groaning, he grabbed around his bedside table until he found his phone. There was a message from Tsucchi, asking whether he got home alright. Yuuji took this as an invitation to immediately call and complain to his friend.

“Tsucchiiii,” he whined, “my neighbour is hot.”

“Okay?” Tsucchi replied. By the sound of it, he had put Yuuji on speaker while he was making breakfast. “And why are you telling me this?”

“Because I messed up any chance I could've had with him.”

“You have to be a little more specific than that.”

Yuuji sighed and got out of bed as he recounted what had happened when he arrived home yesterday.

Of course, Tsucchi's first response was to laugh his ass off.

“Amazing,” he said. “At least, he'll remember you for a long time.”

Yuuji rolled his eyes and opened the fridge, trying to decide whether he could stomach last night's leftovers for breakfast.

“I'd rather he forget about that. And then I can start off fresh,” he said, shutting the fridge and deciding that he would prefer to eat a plain slice of toast instead. “My breath probably smelled terrible after all those beers...”

“Just go and apologise,” Tsucchi said. “Bring some food. You're a good cook, so I'm sure that'll smooth things over.”

“Apologising sounds like a good idea actually...”

***

Ennoshita-san was wearing sweats and looking worse for wear when he opened the door.

“Er... Hi,” Yuuji said, tightening his grip on the pot of meat and potato stew he'd brought over. “I wanted to apologise for that situation last night. I made you some food to make up for it.”

For a moment, Ennoshita-san looked stunned. His eyes moved down to the pot and back up again to Yuuji's face.

“That's... very nice of you,” he said haltingly as he took the pot out of Yuuji's hands. “I mean. Thanks. What is it?”

“Oh, it's just a bit of stew, nothing fancy,” Yuuji said, scratching the back of his head.

Ennoshita-san opened the lid, nodding appreciatively at the smell that immediately permeated the air.

“This is quite a lot, so... do you want to come inside? Or did you eat already?”

This was going better than Yuuji expected.

“I haven't eaten yet, but I wouldn't want to impose,” he said, despite _really_ wanting to accept the invitation.

“As long as you don't mention the mess,” Ennoshita-san said, opening the door further so Yuuji could follow him inside. “I had to pull an all-nighter to meet a deadline, and I haven't had the time to cook or clean in a week.”

“What have you been eating then?” Yuuji asked, looking around curiously. The flat didn't seem too messy if you overlooked the overflowing kitchen sink and the dust bunnies in the corners.

“Cup noodles and conbini bentos.”

“That can't be good for you!” Yuuji shook his head.

“It really isn't, but it's better than starving.”

“That's true, I guess...”

They hit it off immediately. Or at least, that's what it felt like to Yuuji. Even now that his vision wasn't clouded by alcohol, Ennoshita-san was gorgeous. Not even bloodshot eyes and the slight stubble around his chin could detract from his looks. And then there was his sharp tongue. Apparently, he was a freelance writer for a bunch of different magazines, most of which Yuuji had never heard of. But it didn't matter, because Ennoshita-san seemed to be enjoying Yuuji's food, and Yuuji was enjoying Ennoshita-san's company, and before he'd properly thought things through, he promised to share his food with Ennoshita-san whenever the deadlines were too tight.

***

“Oh, I haven't had pork cutlets and curry in ages,” Ennoshita-san said, his smile instantly melting Yuuji's heart. There was something about seeing someone who could be very stern soften their facial expressions that felt so satisfying. Or maybe Yuuji was just stupidly smitten.

“I hope you don't mind it being pretty spicy,” Yuuji said as he filled up their bowls with rice. “Also I just used whatever vegetables we couldn't sell this week, so there might be some strange ingredients in there...”

“I like spicy food,” Ennoshita-san replied, filling two cups with tea. “Also, you somehow managed to make asparagus taste good in that pasta dish last week, so I trust your vegetable choices.”

Yuuji tried very hard not to let the praise get to his head. It wasn't like he was a professional cook or anything like that. It was just a hobby he took up after he started working at a shop that specialised in vegetables and fruit. He had planned on moving on from that job fairly soon, but instead, he'd somehow managed to work his way up the corporate ladder, and now here he was, cooking food in his free time and managing a shop during the day.

***

“I feel like I should probably start chipping in on your food expenses with how often you share your dinner with me,” Ennoshita-san said, a month into Yuuji coming over at least twice a week.

“Nah, I don't mind,” Yuuji said, waving his hand dismissively. “I get a pretty good employee discount now that I'm the branch manager.”

“If you say so,” Ennoshita-san said, stretching his arms and shoulders before getting up and taking their empty bowls to the sink.

“Let me help,” Yuuji said, knowing that Ennoshita-san would tell him to sit back down because he'd already worked enough by actually cooking the food. It was a little routine they had established, and something about it pleased the hopelessly romantic part of Yuuji's brain. It was a bit of domesticity that he didn't get to enjoy very often. Usually, his relationships ended before they could get to this point, but he wasn't even in a relationship with Ennoshita-san yet. At least not a romantic one.

***

When Tsucchi found out about the arrangement between Yuuji and his neighbour, he knowingly wiggled his eyebrows while Yuuji waxed poetic about just how handsome and nice Ennoshita-san was.

“The way to a man's heart is through his stomach,” Tsucchi said, cutting off Yuuji's monologue. “Have you tried asking him out on a dinner date yet, or do you think he might not appreciate your food anymore after eating something cooked by a professional?”

“Oh shut up,” Yuuji sighed, hiding his face behind his palms.

But Tsucchi's words planted a seed inside Yuuji's mind. If he ever wanted to get anywhere with Ennoshita-san, he had to be honest with his intentions. But bringing it up in conversation was hard. The timing was never right. Either Ennoshita-san was too tired, making Yuuji feel like he would be taking advantage of him being in a vulnerable state, or the mood was too good, making Yuuji wary of potentially ruining their fun together. It had been a while since he'd been so genuinely interested in another person, and that made him bite his tongue when, usually, he'd freely speak his mind.

“So I have this idea for an article,” Ennoshita-san said one night, twirling the last of the spaghetti Yuuji had brought over onto his fork. “Basically, it would be a ranking of all the ramen stalls and restaurants in town. It would be a bit of a long-term project, though, and going to all of them alone seems... lonely. So I thought I'd ask you if you wanted to join me.”

Yuuji chuckled and took a sip from his glass.

“Are you asking me on a date, Ennoshita-san?” he asked, jokingly.

“What if I am?”

Yuuji almost choked on his water. Ennoshita-san waited patiently for him to stop coughing before he continued.

“I mean... You're handsome. You can cook really well. I enjoy talking to you. I don't see a reason _not_ to ask you out on a date.”

This was too much all at once. How could Ennoshita-san be so casually blunt about this after Yuuji had been a cowardly mess for weeks?

“So, what's your answer, Terushima-san?”

“I... I'd love to go out with you,” Yuuji finally said, still feeling a little faint from his coughing fit.

Ennoshita-san's smile was blinding and irresistible. Yuuji couldn't help but get on his knees so he could lean across the table and take Ennoshita-san's face in his hands.

“Can I–” he started and was promptly cut off by Ennoshita-san closing the gap between their lips. Their first kiss tasted of garlicky tomato sauce, but Yuuji couldn't care less.

Maybe their first meeting hadn't been quite as catastrophic as he first thought it was. If it hadn't been for Yuuji's faux-pas, he might have never had a chance to show up at Ennoshita-san's doorstep with food, and they might have never had the chance to get to know each other like this.

Sitting next to Ennoshita-san at the counter of a tiny ramen restaurant the next day, Yuuji didn't regret a single thing anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [Tumblr](http://gilrael.tumblr.com), [Pillowfort](https://pillowfort.social/Gilrael) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Gilrael92) if you want to keep up with my writing :)


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